March 28, 2014 AT 5:00 pm

Turn a Trash Can Into an EVE Costume

EVE is one of the most charming characters in WALL-E, and when Instructables user drwave’s daughter wanted to dress like her for Halloween, he took charge and built it. It all started with a trash can, and the costume is an inspiring example of using everyday objects in cosplay. He paired the trash can with EL wire, a paper lantern, and more. Making the shoulder supports was the trickiest part of the build, but he figured it out:

We decided the best way would be to build some “wings” that would sit atop the wearer’s shoulders. This is the strongest and leads to the least fatigue of any of the ideas we came up with.

To make it work, we started with a plastic top from an IKEA container, and using a Skil saw, cut out two wings that we bolted to the inside of the can, above the arm holes. Another important thing here was to get some foam (that we covered with fabric) and attach it to the wings where they will rest on the shoulders. We attached the fabric to the foam and then that to the wings with hot glue, but we used two bolts and washers to attach each wing to the can.